The Book: A Chain of Memories
by Free Epiphany
Summary: It is common knowledge that Komui has loads of dangerous stuff stashed away. But, often, it's the people involved who'd scare you more. This fic is set after the move and before Cross disappeared. Some Black Order fanservice ahead! XD
1. Chapter 1

The Book: Chapter 01 – Komui

It was another regular day at the organization. Reaver was walking past the canteen with the usual pile of books, when he spotted Allen polishing off his breakfast with his customary platter of dango. He remembered that Komui wanted Allen in his office to discussed the evolution of innocence, so he gave Allen a holler. "Hey! Allen! Komui wants to see you! So do drop by his office when you're done!"

Allen turned and nodded an affirmative, with his grin stuffed with dango. Reaver then continued his way to escort the pile of books back to their rightful homes, leaving Allen to demolish the remaining skewers of dango on his plate.

As soon as Allen was done carting his dishes to the wash area, he wave Jerry good day and walked towards the laboratories. Just as he turned the last corner, a running pile of books rammed into him. The pile of books fell apart to reveal Johnny.

"So…Sorry Allen!" stuttered the flustered labtech, as he hurriedly gathered all the books together. "Why are you in such a hurry?" wondered Allen.

"Remember when Lenalee and Bookman started mewing? While we were moving the science department? Guess what, Komui was amused by that. So he made a potion that actually makes a person act like a cat. And as with all things in the science dept, things got mixed up, and potion ended up in Reaver's mug! He was thirsty from running around with the books for the library, so he downed the entire mug! Now, that wouldn't be a major problem for the department under ordinary circumstances, but today's the day where the central incubator… AH! In any case, we need to wring the password from him, using Komui's old stuffs, before the incubator blows! Which means I've got to run! See you later, if the headquarters remain as it is!"

"The science department sure has it hard," said Allen to the shrinking figure of the labtech. He stood up, and noted a lone book lying on the floor between his feet.

"Hey! You…dropped this…" said Allen to nobody in particular, as Johnny was already out of sight. _Oh well, I'd just pass this to Komui-san, _he thought as he gazed at the book in his hand. It had no title.

Allen raised an eyebrow in curiosity and opened the book with a shrug. As soon as the cover parted from the first page, Allen's consciousness was drawn into the pages of the book.

_I looked lovingly at the pot of the dumpling soup I was stirring. Then the voice of the sweetest cherub on earth reached my blessed ears._

"_Onii-chama! Onii-chama!" squealed my dear Lenalee as she ran through the doorway of the kitchen into my leg. "Onii-chama! Look!" said my precious sister excited, directing my fullest attention to the palm that she practically shoved under my nose._

_A pearly-white tooth sat daintily in the midst of her tiny palm. "My tooth fell out!" she crowed with a holey grin._

"_Oh! Haha! Good for you! It's been shaking in your mouth for days hasn't it?" I smiled as I scooped her up in my arms. She's so adorable._

"_Onii-chama, what do I do with this?" asked my dear sister quizzically. I considered and told her "Um…You can make wish to it and throw it over the roof!"_

"_Will my wish come true if I do that?"_

"_If you wished hard enough," I smiled._

"_Really? That's great!" Lenalee bounced out of my arms and into the courtyard. She shut her eyes and concentrated, ostensibly on her wish. She then opened her eyes and threw the tooth as hard as she could. I heard the tiny tooth rattle upon the roof tiles as I walked out into the yard. "What did you wish for?" I asked curiously._

"_To be with Onii-chama forever!" _

Komui's world faded back into reality, and Allen found himself kneeling in the midst of the corridor. He started. _What…what was that? Mini Lenalee?! Komui-san?! Was that his journal or something?_

"Hey! What are you doing, kneeling like an idiot in the middle of the hallway?" Allen turned his head dazedly to find Lavi next to him. "Eh? That's rare. You didn't hear me, did you?" Lavi wrinkled his brows. "You look like you were hit by a train." Lavi then noticed the book in Allen's hands. "Did the book bite you or something?" As words continue to fail Allen, Lavi picked up the book and opened it himself.


	2. Chapter 2

The Book: Chapter 02 – Allen

_Three days have passed since the troupe stepped off the ship, yet, somehow, the solid land is still at sea for me. Staring at the flowing, half-frozen late autumn water flowing below the bridge under my feet simply aggravated my condition. Covering my mouth in an attempt to keep my dinner in my belly, I turned my back to the Japanese wooden railing, and sat on the bridge._

_I regretted my decision at the moving waters, for it made me feel worse rather than better. At first sight, in the darkness, the waters reminded me of the early winter rivers back in England. Yet, it seemed that water had a different quality, depending on where you were. Thoughts like that helped fill the time I now have on hand. But it only served to highlight the fact that the troupe may be in trouble; unlike the English, the Japanese were not familiar with such circus acts. Business would have to get brisker if the troupe is to make a profit from our overseas venture._

"_A penny for your thoughts?" said a familiar hand, brandishing a penny in front of me from the middle of nowhere. "The local currency is the yen, Mana," I muttered with all the focus I could muster amidst my swimming head._

"_A yen for your thoughts then," smiled my mentor, as he replaced the penny with a yen in an instant. "I'm surprised that you actually have the local coin. Would love to take you up on your deal, but I'm now trying not to sick up."_

_Mana considered my face and said "Ok, looks like you won't need green facepaint. But sitting on your rear end blocking the path isn't going to help any. Come, a walk in the cold winter air will do you some good." Hauling me up with ease, he held my smaller hand and led me along the bridge._

_Something occurred to me in the midst of my rocking world. He'd never held my larger hand during all his walks with me. Ignoring my drunken gait, I looked at him and asked "You've said that my hand isn't scary. So why haven't you ever held my left hand?"_

_Mana looked down and considered me for a second. "Well, that's because God's given you a hand that seemed rather large for your age, like you've got a responsibility larger than you're supposed to have. I thought, even though I couldn't give you a normal family, I could at least let you feel the warmth of another's hand as a child," he said with a grin._

_I had no idea what to say in response. But a smile seemed right, so I gave him one. Yet, as soon as I smiled, I realized that it was the best thank you I could give him. Or, for that matter, anyone in the world. _

"_Finally, I managed to put a smile on your face. Try to keep that on your face; clowns have to be happy in order to make others happy too." He ruffled my hair with his free hand and coiled my scarf a little tighter. "Look, there's a Japanese snack stand ahead. Think you could manage some supper?"_

Mana's face faded into Allen's before Lavi's eyes. He blinked and said "Mana's a really nice guy." Allen stared. "What? What did you see? Where did is he?"

~ a little later ~

"So, it seems like the book records the treasured memories of the last person who holds it," said Lavi, licking an orange popsicle.

"Yup! Seems like it. We could test it. With you, of course," suggested Allen, grinning with an apple popsicle in his mouth.

For a split second, Lavi froze in mid-bite. "Ehehehe. That's… not a good idea. The old man would kill me!" replied Lavi, sweating whilst he savoured the taste of orange flavouring thinning with the ice melting in his mouth. "For me, the old man's wrath is a little like Cross' debtors coming after you for payment."

Lavi and Allen sat on the wooden garden bench, frozen despite the sun as they contemplated their childhood traumas.

"…It's a miracle that we're both alive, huh?" said Allen, breaking the silence as he tried to keep up with his melting popsicle.

"Indeed."

Lavi continued sucking on his popsicle. Suddenly, he sat up really straight on the bench. "Hey, not sure if you noticed, but we really do have a lethal weapon in our hands! I mean," said Lavi, picking up the book with his spare hand, "with this, we could totally see everyone's secrets!"

Allen grinned despite himself. "And get some blackmail material! To pay off Master's debts!"

At that moment, Lavi could almost see the devil horns growing out of Allen's head, and shuddered despite the sun. "Eh, no. Looks like Cross had a detrimental effect on you. You'd have been better off if you were with Mana."

Before Allen could agree, a shadow grew from behind them, and before either of them could react, the book was out of Lavi's hand, and Lavi was a few feet from the bench with a bang.

"Lavi!" Allen yelled as he scooted off the bench to pick Lavi off the flowerbed, where he landed when Cross whacked him with the book.

"Tsk. Fancy having to smack a noisy, filthy fly the first thing in the morning. You should have better sense than literally talk about someone behind their backs." Tossing the book aside, Cross nonchalantly climbed back into the window, back to the pile of bottles that have accumulated since the headquarters completed its move.

"…Right, we were sitting right outside the library window. I think we'd better move."

"I agree." Sitting up, Lavi rubbed his head while a yellow flower stuck out of his tustled hair. Allen moved to pick up the fallen book. Suddenly, he brightened up. Picking out the absurd yellow flower that was sticking out of his head, he said "Allen, you hold on tight to the book."

"Eh?" Allen turned to look at Lavi while in mid-crouch.

"Don't you see? Who was the last to hold on to that book?"

This time round, the imaginary devil's horns appeared upon both the heads of our two young Exocists, as conspiring smiles spread across their faces. They hurried to a more secluded part of the garden, and settled down under a shady tree. Excitedly, Allen opened the book. But to no avail.

"EH?!" both young men exclaimed.

"Is…it spoilt? Here, let me try…" suggested Lavi, taking the book from Allen. Lavi's eyes clouded once more, as he was drawn into the book.

A couple of minutes later, Lavi's eyes refocused themselves to take in Allen's anxious face. "It's working fine, but it's no good, it was the same memory of you and Mana again."

"Now, that's really strange. Does the book not work on alcoholics or something?"

"Nah. Your master may be inhumane, but he's not inhuman," said Lavi, as he put the book down.

"Haha. I could hardly tell. Try again, maybe the book got confused."

Shrugging, Lavi picked up the book and opened it once more. Again, the book showed no response. Both Allen and Lavi stared at the book. "Allen, hold the book again. Then return it to me."

As soon as the book was back in Lavi's hands, he opened them and went into trance again. Once Lavi was back in reality, he said "I get it! The book doesn't work on your own self! Only someone else can read your memories!"

Catching on, Allen wondered "But even so, why was it that Cross' memories didn't show? I mean he grabbed it with his hands…" As soon as the last word left his mouth, he noticed his bare hands. "I've figured it out! Cross' memories didn't show for he didn't touch the book! See, he was wearing gloves, as he usually does."

"Ah, finally, we got all that cleared up! It would've been a bummer if the book's dead, considering how hard Cross smacked me with it," gripped Lavi, prodding his tender scalp. Brightening up, he asked "So, whose memories would you wanna see first?"

"Lenalee!" grinned Allen.

"But, eh, only one of us can see it, and I wanna see it too…" said Lavi, pouting.

"Hm… Yeah, it wouldn't be fair if only one of us got to see it, would it? Who do you suggest then?"

At that very moment, the giant wooden door leading to the garden opened, and let Kanda out into the morning sun. Unseen, Allen and Lavi watched Kanda walked down the garden path, away from them and into the woods behind the new headquarters.

Once he went out of sight, Allen and Lavi looked at each other.

"Kanda!"

"Yuu-kun!"

Writer's comment: Phew, I'm finally done with this chapter! It was a long chapter compared to the first, since I had to straighten out the mechanics of the book. Don't worry, Lenalee and Cross will get their turns. (And I think it'll be worth the wait. XD) Though I originally planned to write just one chapter for each character, I'll consider giving Komui another appearance, but I'm weighing between angst and slapstick. Heck, if the plot allows, I may do more than one chapter for each character. So sit tight and read on~! ^^


	3. Chapter 3

The Book: Chapter 03 – Kanda

Allen and Lavi waited for a minute or so before following Kanda into the woods, taking care to hide behind the trees along the path as they went. The path led to a nice shady clearing, which was where Kanda stopped. Stripping down to just his pants and bandages, he began working on his daily kata, maneuvering his sword with a sureness that worked with the dappled light to accent the beauty of his suave and composed self.

"Ok, now what? He's not likely to just take the book out of curiosity," whispered Allen to Lavi, just out of Kanda's earshot.

"I have no idea. But one thing's for sure; I'd better be the one doing the collecting," replied Lavi, remembering the lack of patience that Kanda had for Allen.

"Point taken. Oh, he'd better not know I'm around. Otherwise he'd kill you too," shuddered Allen. His brows knitted themselves in concentration for a second, then loosened up. Grinning evilly, he said "I know, why don't you make him walk with the book on his head, like those wannabe models?"

Lavi stared. "What? Are you kidding? That's definitely suicidal!"

"Well, if you can pull that off, I'll treat you to yakitori!"

Drooling, Lavi agreed, to Allen's glee. "But, let's wait for him to finish his kata."

~a little later~

While holding the book behind his head, along with a couple of other books, Lavi walked nonchalantly down the path, towards Kanda, in his plain sight. Feigning surprise, Lavi said "Eh? Good morning, Yuu-kun. I though I'd be alone here."

Finishing the final stance and settling into a half-squat, Kanda took a breath and said "So did I." While the sweat ran down his fair torso, he watched Lavi settle down at the edge of the clearing with the books. "You read here often or something?"

"Yeah. Whenever the old man sets me something to read," said Lavi, thumbing a page. "Hm, you usually do your kata here in the morning?"

"Um hm. But I'm late today. Komui was wailing about the loss of some book. So he's set Komurin IV on the task. That cursed machine strangled Johnny and upset my soba in the dining hall while I was having breakfast after my morning meditation," growled Kanda, even though Komurin IV was already en route to the scrap metal yard thanks to his innocence.

Knowing exactly what Komui was looking for, Lavi swallowed and continued, "Ehehehe. Now I'm thankful I left the dining hall early."

"You should be. Considering that there is no dining hall. Not till lunch anyway, since the maintenance team's busy fixing it up," replied Kanda, still squatting. "Tsk. If only the Moyashi was there. Then I could get rid of him too and be done with him."

Lavi laughed nervously. Changing the subject, he asked "Yuu-kun, what are you doing, squatting like that?"

"Training my balance. And core muscles."

Suddenly, Lavi had an idea as to how he could snag Allen's yakitori treat. "Really? I have an idea that may help!" Bouncing up, he snatched up the book, walked towards Kanda and neatly deposited the book on his head. Squatting in front of Kanda, with his fist beneath his chin, he smiled. "Yup! That looks about right! Just like a model!"

Kanda's eyeballs rolled up in their sockets, and a vein popped out on his temple as he looked back down at Lavi. He then reached up, grabbed the book and tossed it away. "What an idiotic idea. I swear, the Moyashi is rubbing off on you," Kanda growled, giving Lavi a death glare.

"Nah. That's how the old man trains his balance. He's now balancing 10 books," grinned Lavi, who added evilly "And a ball, when he's feeling horny."

Kanda stared and the corner of his mouth twitched up with the start of a grin. "Now we know."

"Yup! Say, the dining hall's out, but Jerry's still got his kitchen, right?"

"Yeah. Komurin IV's claw landed on Jerry's counter when he died, though. Lenalee was feeding him tissues the last I saw."

"Well, I'll go try my luck and see if he's calm enough to get me some pudding! See you!" Picking up the other books by the tree, Lavi strolled back down the path.

Lavi did not have to go far before Allen pounced onto him. "That was absolutely brilliant!" said Allen, his eyes shining.

"Hehe. I had a brainwave, that's all," smiled Lavi modestly. "Ok, let's get out of here. I wanna see what Kanda has in his mind."

The two conspirators enthusiastically took Lavi's hammer express up onto the roof. Apparently, Lavi's braking skills have improved, but not very significantly so, for they ended up on the other tower in one messy heap, right in the midst of Miranda's laundry. Apologising profusely while gathering the loose articles of apparel for Miranda, they beat a hasty retreat as Miranda lamented over the fact that the pigeons did their business on her linen as soon as the boys got her laundry back in the basket.

Settling down at the end of the corridor on the top story of the tower, Lavi sat the other books next to him on the side without Allen. He then waited till Miranda's footsteps disappeared down the stairs at the other end of the corridor, before taking a deep breath and plunging himself into Kanda's world.

"_Okasan~!" I shouted as I ran down the wooden corridor into my mother's familiar kimono print, smelling the delicate scent of her perfume. I grinned up at her beautiful smiling face, as she gently held me against her soft frame._

"_Kanda! Look at you, you're all sweaty!" she said as she crouched to my height and wiped my wet forehead. As soon as I was dry, I smiled and said "Okasan, guess what! Otousan says he's getting me my chokuto today! He's bringing me to the swordsmith's after lunch!"_

"_Really? That's great!" said my mother, as she gathered me in a hug. "That means you're growing up, my dear child."_

"_Hehe! Yup! That's what Otousan said, too."_

"_Is that so? Well, let's get you some lunch for our growing swordsman, then! Would you like to help me today, and give our cook a break?"_

"_Ok! I want to eat Okasan's soba!"_

_Laughing as she held my hand on the way to the kitchen, mother said "You never get sick of eating soba, do you? What would you like with your soba today?" _

"_Tempura!" I cheered, for my mother could put the traditional cook's tempura to shame, despite being well-taken care of. It was a pity that my family had too much wealth and appearances to keep up; she rarely had the opportunity to cook._

_My mother's authority at home was undisputed, even in the kitchen that we rarely stepped into; the respect for her was evident in all our servants' eyes. She spoke a little with our chef then had him obtain some fresh prawns for us from the fish-monger. I was in for a treat indeed; prawns are rare this far inland._

_The servants in the kitchen found a space for us, and passed us the buckwheat flour. Mother rolled up her silken sleeves, revealing the carefully maintained fair skin beneath. I watched on as she worked skillfully with the water and flour. Then she held my hands and taught me how to knead the dough. It was warm from my mother's hands despite the slight chill of the early spring._

_It was hard work rolling the dough, which was way too large for my hands; father's training was only marginally more tiring than that. Thankfully, the hard work paid off and a huge sheet of dough sat on the table in front of me, all delicately powdered, like the geishas who occasionally perform at our mansion for our guests. Mother then took over, carefully folding the dough into a compact roll. She then took a knife and sliced the dough. I watched in amazement as she cut the dough with a smile of joy on her face; the skill she showed with the knife was comparable with Father's skill with the sword._

"_Where did Okasan learn to use a knife like that? You're probably better than the cook!" I stared._

_She looked at me as she wiped the knife and laughed lightly. She said "I'm rather ashamed to tell you the reason, but here it is. You see, there was much that I couldn't do as a daughter of a rich family, and I was often irritated by the vicious gossip that the jealous girls said. Since there wasn't much I could do, I made friends with the maids in the kitchen on the sly. They then taught me how to cook, and told me to pretend that the dough had the faces of those I hated. So…" she laughed at this point._

"_Okasan must have had a lot of frustrations indeed," I mused in amusement as I admired the narrow strands of soba sitting on the table._

_Smiling, she crouched to my height again. Rubbing the flour off my face, she said "Perhaps. But, you and your Otousan made it all worth while." _

_At that point, the cook returned with the prawns. Straightening up, she dusted my robes for me, and murmured in her demure voice "Go, my dear child. Go freshen yourself up, while I get lunch ready for us."_

"_Ok!" I gave my mother a hug and ran out of the kitchen and into the familiar wooden corridors._

The Japanese corridors that made up Kanda's childhood faded back into the passageway, and Allen was next to him once more. "Wow, Kanda sure had a rich family," breathed Lavi, raising his eyebrows as he closed the book.

"Really? That'd explain why he's got such a stiff upper lip," gripped Allen.

"Maybe. I wonder why he ended up as an Exorcist though," mused Lavi, looking uncharacteristically concerned. "Oh well, let's go get a pudding from Jerry while I share the tale. All this spying is making me hungry, and it's barely 10am yet."

"Alright then."

Writer's comments (1): AH!!! *cries* Checking back on the manga chapters, I realized that there couldn't have been a day in which this fic could happen! Because immediately after the gate to the new HQ was opened, Rouvelier took Allen away for the observed meeting with Cross! *cries* So, for the sake of coherence, I'm just pretending that a day had lapsed between everyone crossing the gate and Rouvelier taking Allen away. Yups! Hope that clears things up! ^^

Writer's comments (2): Phew, that was a REALLY long chapter. *wipes sweat* I'm right now seriously contemplating writing a dressing room style intermission chapter just to take a quick breather. Then again, it's my fault for abandoning fanfictions for so long, so… *laughs* In any case, thank you all for your reviews and subscriptions~! Hope you all liked this chapter! ^^

Another random note: While reading up on the making of soba, it turned out that soba is consumed during the Kanda Festival in Japan. Not sure if the mangaka made soba Kanda's favourite dish because of that, haha.


	4. Chapter 4

The Book : Chapter 4 - Lost

Allen and Lavi stepped off the final step of the stairs, and turned from the landing to find themselves face-to-face with Krory. They drew back from him, faces braced with expressions of sheer horror, out of reflex, conspirators' guilt and the not-so-distant memory of Krory's fearsome behaviour under the influence of Komui's virus. Mistaking their response for an absolute fear, Krory blushed and examined his shoes.

Lavi was the first to recover. Breaking the awkward silence that was building around them, he said "Hi Krory! Nice to see you out of the ward."

Looking up, Krory smiled meekly. "Sorry to have bothered you; the matron told me that my stomach was growling pretty badly while I was unconscious."

A smile played at the corner of Lavi's lips. "It wasn't too bad. Noise had it worse, with his excellent hearing and all." As soon as the words left Lavi's mouth, he felt like replacing the words with his foot, for Krory's head began its familiar path to some embarrassed shoe-related introspection. Allen came to the rescue. "In any case, you were better than Komui-san. He could've woken the dead with his lullaby robot."

Lavi added in relief, "Yeah, thank god the matron..." At this point, all three stomachs growled in universal impatience, and all three faces froze in their own characteristic states of comic astonishment. Allen then spoke up in the midst of the laughter that now swirl around them. Since Jerry's pudding sounded like an excellent reprise for their late morning appetites, the three young exorcists proceeded on down the corridor with a sense of camaraderie that can only be invoked by shared turmoils and delectable food.

They stepped into the dining hall to find no difference to it, thanks to the experienced clean up crew trained by post-Komurin carnage. Jerry looked up from his frying pan behind his usual grilled counter to see his favourite patron. "Ah, Allen-kun! Just what can I get for you this morning? It's a little early for lunch, no? And, yes, it's nice to see you again, Krory. I'd gladly cook for you, just so that I won't have to forcibly undergo blood transfusions...mmpf!"

Allen hurriedly silenced Jerry and whispered "Don't talk about that!" In a louder voice, he removed the hand that he silenced Jerry with, and said "Erm, yeah, we'd like some pudding." Observing a developing minor blush amplified by the pallor of Krory's cheeks, Jerry resumed his normal tone of voice and said "Sure thing! 3 puddings coming right up! Extra large?" Jerry's eyes caught three eager grins as they peeked from the top of his glasses.

In no time, the boys walked away from Jerry's brilliant smile, each carrying a bucket-sized pudding, with Krory staring at the colossal tub of shining flan as if he had no idea what to do with it. They settled down at an unoccupied bench, and dug in with youthful gusto.

"Oh, Jerry's pudding is so delicious!" was what Allen said from behind a whole mouthful of the sweet mushy stuff. Lavi and Krory could barely make out the simple statement amidst all the chomping, but the gist of the statement was apparent from Allen's satisfied grin. Lavi mirrored the grin, and said "Yeah, after all the work in the morning too... OH NO! Allen, the book!"

"It's lost?!" "It's lost!"

---------

Writer's comments: I have no idea whether I'm being distracted by writing from work and games, or was distracted by work and games from writing. In any case, sorry for the wait! Hopefully, I'll be more diligent in updating the next chapter, seeing that this short chapter's an evil little cliffhanger. ^^


	5. Chapter 5

The Book: Chapter 05 – Or not?

Whilst the boys panicked over their puddings, the book that everyone's been looking for, lay leisurely on its back by the staircase landing, ostensibly, comfortably and temporarily forgotten. In fact, it would have scratched its back in relief, had it a hand. However, it seemed like the day was Friday the thirteenth by the book's reckoning, for Cross' foot soon booted the book in its spine some thirty minutes before lunch.

Cross looked down nonchalantly, to see what his foot hit. Raising his eyebrow at the familiar book, he bent down to pick it up. Isn't that the book that I used to swat a dirty fly this morning? Wonder what's my less-than-intelligent-idiot of a disciple up to, pouring over a book with the noisy Bookman like that.

The covers of the book parted easily, drawing the General into the world concealed within its pages.

_The summer wind teased the tents, as if it were an audacious young lad flipping the gay skirts of the shy young ladies, while the flags flapped in the wind, as if cheering the wind on. It was a cheery image, but I had no part in it. For I was stuck on an outcrop a fair distance away with the rickety old caravan, while the old man was off book shopping amidst the tents. _

_It wasn't fair that I had to stay and guard our stuff; I was literally dying from boredom. But, once I thought of the cart that the old man lugged along to fill with books, I was actually thankful that I wasn't involved in the book expedition, for I'd definitely be the human mule. Idle thoughts filled my head in the absence of entertainment; I'd already exhausted the readings present in the 'van. Heading to the fair without the old man's permission would be totally suicidal; my bum was still raw from my latest escapade at the previous fair we passed._

_With nothing better to do, I decided I'd play with my hammer. Daily practice was too boring, so I thought I might as well try messing around and seeing how much carnage I could produce. I had always taken care to grip my hammer as well as I could, but somehow, I just did not feel like doing so. I spinned around, swing the hammer lazily as I went. And let go._

It sailed in the air like a lazy old man, ballooning into a huge hammer as it went. And landed somewhere in the forest ahead with an almighty crash.

_The birds flapped past me in alarm, as I made my way leisurely into the forest to collect my hammer. What I saw as I got close to the hammer made me stop in my footstep._

_The hammer was sitting on top of what seemed to be a campfire. It was hard to tell, but there were fragments of a huge pot, a lot of smoke and what looked like a freshly doused fire. That, and a few persons frozen in position about the hammer. A huge teenage boy with earphones was lying unconscious on the ground next to the fire. Another small wiry boy was standing with one foot in the mid air, with a worn out soccer ball on the ground near him, his face stunned. A fatherly and trashy looking man by the stream had a piece of charcoal poised on top of his portable canvas, as he looked at the hammer in surprise. An Asian boy, whose face I couldn't see, was sitting between me and the fire, with his back all stiff while holding a bowl and a pair of chopsticks near his face._

The was a minute of silence.

I gulped and moved closer to my hammer. I touched it, and it went back to its original portable size.

Awkwardly, I muttered a sorry and made to leave the carnage.

As I passed the Asian boy, I heard a mutter. "...Do you think that saying sorry would return me my soba and get the dust out of my shoyu dip?"

I turned my head to say my apologies once more, only see the face of a demon yell "RETURN ME MY SOBA!"

Cross lifted an eyebrow as Kanda's face from hell faded back into the reality of the headquarters. _What an unadorable kid_, he thought. Closing the book, he looked at the book with renewed interest. It could come in very useful indeed, if he could figure out how to make use of it...

Writer's comments: Sorry for the wait! Been away from the fandom ever since the manga went into the "what on earth is going on, this doesn't make much sense and has too much new info" phase. It didn't help that I didn't have new chapters to follow, either. ; _ ;


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